MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ireland will not sign EU/Mercosur deal unless Brazil takes action to protect the Amazon rainforest

“There is no way Ireland will vote the EU-Mercosur trade agreement if Brazil does not honor its environmental commitments” Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said

As wildfires rage through the Brazilian Amazon, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has said Dublin will vote against a trade deal between the European Union and Mercosur unless Brazil takes action to protect the rainforest.

The Irish Independent said Varadkar was very concerned at the record levels of rainforest destruction.

“There is no way that Ireland will vote for the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement if Brazil does not honor its environmental commitments,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Vast tracts of the Amazon are currently ablaze in what is known as the burning season. Environmentalists have blamed deforestation for an increase in fires and accuse Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro on cutting protection of an area deemed crucial in combating climate change.

Varadkar said Bolsonaro's effort to blame non-government environmental organisations for the fires was “Orwellian”.

Ireland would need other EU states to help form a blocking minority if it wants to kill the deal, reached in June after 20 years of negotiations between the EU and the Mercosur countries of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.